Monkey D. Luffy: A Man Worth Betting On

why is it that separate from the main crew the characters that are introduced arc by arc inevitably always see something in luffy something seemingly grander than a sole individual so grand in fact that regardless of only knowing in a very short amount of time put their trust in him and eventually even bet on him well the answer is actually rather simple but that simple answer itself has many complex layers hidden behind that simplicity just like our main character monkey d luffy the reason for this trust for this faith is solely because luffy is someone who inspires but what exactly does he inspire shanks was once luffy's inspiration without shanks there would be no straw hat luffy and without the straw hats there will never be pirate king luffy shanks has had very limited appearances in the overall story but each individual scene with him in it says a whole lot especially in the first chapter of one piece what i think is overlooked the majority of the time is just how important this first chapter is to luffy as a character you could view all of this actually as a lesson from shanks to luffy through action shanks multiple times teaches luffy how a pirate with real metal should behave he lets himself get doused with alcohol lets himself get humiliated yet instead of retaliate or even get angry about the situation he laughs along with his crew as they mock his pathetic display but it was only pathetic on the surface the mountain bandits were never actually a real threat to him neither were they an obstacle in his way of a goal so why would he fight if there are zero stakes for pride for dominance sure for either of those his retaliation would be justified but shanks is a man that doesn't care about any of that he just wants to do what he wants with his friends and crew and it's only when someone threatens that does he retaliate he shows great strength great strength in keeping himself in check not a pacifist but a pirate with great conviction and this completely parallels luffy as a character he doesn't fight back against bellamy's men when he knows the fight would lead nowhere but he also strikes down bellamy after he had taken something precious from a man luffy considered a friend he even goes as far as to declare war on the world when the world itself was actively trying to eliminate robin a crew member even in his casual interactions with his crew luffy lets himself get verbally and physically abused because exactly like shanks luffy takes a relaxed approach to leadership the last thing luffy wants to do is enforce his will on others it's something he hates more than anything he leads but only through inspiration never by force everyone joined him willingly because they all saw something in him make no mistake these are not traits inherent within luffy but a way of life he considered to be the best a way of life he was exposed to through shanks's actions the straw hat he wears what he always keeps close to him is not just precious because someone of a father figure gave it to him but because it is a promise from him to that person that he will always remember the lessons he was taught and that he will carry on those lessons and how he lives his life out as a pirate and this theme of the influential parental figures prevalent throughout all the straw hats and their individual flashbacks chopper learned how to love and be loved through dr herolu his passion as a doctor born out of the experiences he shared being hirolik's assistant and his drive to cure all diseases something he acquired after he could not save the person he loved with the medical knowledge he had sanji's passion is a chef born out of the smile his mother gave him when she ate the food he prepared these experiences are important because they are ultimately what shaped the individuals we see before us which is the stanson it takes in his writing that people are molded by their experiences and what they take from them luffy took from shanks how a pirate's strength behaves it inspired him to not only become someone with that same strength but even surpass it as one who stands above all pirates as pirate king but what exactly does pirate king mean to luffy well he flat out says it himself to rayleigh the pirate king is the freest and that's all luffy really wants the freedom to adventure and the freedom to experience that adventure with his friends his crewmates who all have great ambitions of their own ones that are just as precious to them as pirate king is to luffy which is why when they are stuck unable to move closer to that goal it is portrayed as one of the worst possible wounds that could be inflicted upon them and luffy fights not only for his dream but theirs as well because without them at his side becoming pirate king is worthless because the only thing worse than not being able to achieve your dreams is not having anyone around you to cheer with when all said and done which is why luffy doesn't compromise on the safety of his crew because he knows all too well that without them not only could he not become pirate king but he wouldn't even want to but all the straw hats feel this way that's why all of them to some extent risk their lives for each other because luffy doesn't enforce his will on others he gives them the freedom to do just that you do what you can do i'll do what you can't that's the motto of their group it's only luffy that doesn't follow this 100 because he has resolved himself to fill the most important role in the crew luffy's role is not just as the ultimate decider of where the straw hats end up or what important decisions they make but the one who takes on the burden of being the crew's beacon of hope when there's a foe that emerges that none of the straw huts could ever hope to defeat they count on luffy to rise above the challenge and come out on top and at the end of the day it's always that main antagonist that acts as the main inhibitor of the straw hat's arc to art goals so if that's the case it's reasonable to assume that luffy is taking on the brunt of the trouble each time the crew encounters a new phone and it's luffy's fulfilling of this role that ultimately what makes him a suitable captain for a crew with such big personalities all equipped with their own cherished dreams when luffy fights he's not only fighting for them but their dreams as well along with his own their unity is rely on that major role in the crew which is why when that role is not functioning appropriately that unity understandably shatters which is exactly the case in sabote archipelago when luffy punches saint charlos a celestial dragon his selfishness is put on full display it is a trait all too often overlooked in luffy but one obvious when looking at some of his exploits objectively one example of this being when luffy helped break out many cold-blooded criminals all for the sake of saving ace many of which like buggy went on to continue their heinous deeds hachi had warned luffy about the consequences of striking a celestial even luffy who got to experience the power of the title admiral did not care if his decision would lead to a face-off with someone of that caliber again his mind was stuck in the present his anger got the better of him something shanks demonstrated all those years ago not to let happen and his selfish decision forced the crew into impossible odds ones even luffy could not match up to when the beacon of hope is desperately screaming for everyone to run rather than valiantly declaring he will kick this person's ass the unity of the crew collapses and the straw hats collectively experienced their first defeat as a group because of his luffy's first time failing at his role as captain and he failed because he was too weak but this weakness extends to all of the crew when luffy is unconscious after sacrificing his body once again for his crewmates zorro and sanji attempt to sacrifice themselves as well because for the ones who are so much weaker than the opposing threats the only way that they can see a way out is through self-sacrifice but this will only ever go so far one day something is going to give in a game here luffy was wrong for acting selfishly to bring this about on his crew but was luffy also wrong for running away from this overwhelming display of power in the youtuber crafts dwarfs video analysis on luffy he argues he was wrong i disagree while it's true the mechanic of miracles in one piece come about when one chooses to take on the risk of failure miracles aren't always assured neither would they be considered miracles if they were luffy continues to try and fight aokiji not only to give his crew a chance to escape but also because he had yet to know the full extent of his power and he also went back after cp9 after coming up with a way to combat their fighting styles sure he knew his victory wasn't assured but he had enough to know there was at least a chance here he knows there is no chance with his and his crew's current strength as captain he looked at everything and came to this conclusion he made the right choice in a miracle did happen rayleigh came to the rescue and kuma helped the straw hats escape the threat the difference between the straw hats and the other supernova crews is not that they succeeded because they tried where the straw hats did not it is only that they experienced that same failure from weakness at different points in the story they moved on to the new world and experienced failure there some even submitting entirely to that overwhelming opposition like hawkins and luffy's weakness persisted time after time even after this encounter he tried to run at this overwhelming entity again after once running away from it because he knows this time around one of the ones he cares about is not in a position to do the same he survives each battle and miracles do indeed happen sure but ultimately his goal the reason he had been risking so much this entire time ends in failure because at this point in the story he is too weak to overcome that risk of failure luffy once declared war on the world government for their targeting of robin and now when he is faced with the full force of that same power he collapses for his strength and spirit are not yet ready to change the world but what is always demonstrated what is always apparent is luffy's simplicity he'll always fight for a comrade will always stand for what he believes in and will always have an obsessive love for meat that's the kind of goofy simplicity the one piece community fell in love with but not me what made me fall in love with luffy's characters not just all of the above but how it directly contrasts the one-piece world as a whole conspiracy prejudice slavery murder madness evil the world that seems so romantic is only that on the surface even a paradise like skypea is actually anything but that the world is corrupted shrouded in a darkness that has seemingly enveloped all and the main perpetrators are the world government the ones who would even commit mass genocide over people discovering the true history the history of how they came into power there of course is true justice residing in this organization mostly located in the navy branch but a part of the system all the same nothing is black and white in this world or reality but the fact of the matter is the ones in supreme control of everything the entity with true power is anything but righteous and that inevitably corrupts the entirety of the world the world government rules by the true king's personal agenda the concept of equal power and politics is only a facade here he is the one truly above all and the one responsible for inhibiting the freedom of many the one responsible for this madness for this evil so what kind of man is capable of toppling the gods in the holy land capable of toppling the one true king well if a human can't beat god then surely god's natural enemy might be able to if the king of the world government is hindering the people's freedom then surely it is only the pirate king that is capable of reversing this a status that means to luffy absolute freedom in alabasta luffy punches crocodile into the light making his diabolical conspiracy known in skypia he defeats annel the man who smited down those he deemed heretics in innis lobby the crew saves a friend that seems too deep in the world's darkness to break free in thriller bark they give the people back their ability to walk under the sun the ability to escape darkness luffy and the straw hats actively make the world more free through their journey it has been a running theme since the story's conception luffy is no hero again he is a man that does what he wants he is selfish crude stupid and downright mean when he wants to be but it's the simple love of freedom and adventure luffy has that so often breaks through the dense cloud of the world's dark complexities and more often than not overcomes them inadvertently helping the masses once again see the light the world is layered luffy is not the world has many luffy is one he can never take on the world alone that's why his greatest ability his greatest feat has nothing to do with his own strength but the strength of his comrades luffy has an innate ability to attract others to his side most of these people only knowing him a short amount of time even go as far as to sometimes risk their lives for him and even when they can't help but on his victory this is because luffy is someone who inspires freedom and everyone wants to be free the youtuber mr morge once described dressrosa as being a sort of miniature version of what the end of one piece will look like and i am inclined to agree doflamingo was once a celestial dragon and because of his father he fell from grace when he tried to reclaim what he lost the gods viewed him as now mortal so he would never be welcomed back in god's land if the world took everything from him then he would take from the world first with dressrosa the kingdom that the don quixote family once governed then the people's freedom and rule like the celestials do in his own mary joan but this will never satiate the heavenly demon's anger he wants everything below him and if he can't have that then he will destroy the ones who do have everything below them he is truly the epitome of a man warped in this world's madness make no mistake this is not a trait inherent within doflamingo rosiante says that doflamingo is a man that has always been like this but looking at his past objectively it's easy to find just the opposite as a child doflamingo was exposed to heaven and then all too suddenly exposed to hell and looking at it this way it makes more sense for doflamingo to act out his life in this fashion after experiencing what he has his father showed him love but that love only turned into his worst nightmare so if love only caused him pain then he would hate everything and take away the freedom not necessary for the lowly mortals even if they tried to escape his darkness he would cage them in like the lower beings they are but monkey d luffy is not immortal or at least not considered one to the world at large he is a d god's natural enemy a man made of rubber and a pursuer of freedom it's only natural that these two opposing forces would one day collide when doflamingo tries to take control of luffy like he had so many others luffy effortlessly breaks free in this display of someone putting up a fight against the seemingly impossible inspires all of dressrosa who even helped luffy in his time of need luffy didn't defeat doflamingo alone and that's the point law trusted luffy to finish the job after he had done everything he could in the whole kingdom of dressrosa bet on luffy to do what they could not as well luffy has no personal ties nor much of any affection at all for this island yet one thing he hates more than anything are people's freedoms being robbed from them while before that anger manifested into a decision he could not fully commit to due to his lack of strength it is now clear that luffy has acquired the strength that he was once lacking turning a power once capable of inspiring a few to now an entire island and an entire fleet luffy sends the heavenly demon crashing back down to earth and freeze dress rosa and one day years down the line from now we will finally see this beloved character reach the point of inspiring the entire world just like gold roger once had we are already seeing glimpses of just this in the present story and it's the whole world that just like the citizens of dressrosa we'll see luffy as a man worth betting on

Channel: HotBoySpicy

Views: 162,505

Keywords: One Piece, anime, manga, Luffy, Shanks, Imu, Strawhats, One Piece anime, One Piece manga, One Piece analysis, analysis, Doflamingo, Doffy, New World, Time skip, Dressrosa, Saboady Archipelago, strawhat, strawhats, straw hats, Chopper, Sanji, World Government

Id: ePG9euOw2R0

Length: 14min 52sec (892 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 16 2019